Trees and utility poles were leveled and city streets and country roads flooded on Friday as rain, winds and surging seawater from Tropical Storm Pabuk hit coastal villages and world-famous tourist resorts on southern Thailand's east coast. (Jan. 4)
AP

Waves due to tropical storm Pabuk crash into a pier in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani on January 4, 2019.(Photo: Lillian Suwanrumpha, AFP/Getty Images)

One person was reported dead and another missing after a fishing boat with a crew of six capsized in high waves, but there were no reports of major damage by nightfall. It appeared that Tropical Storm Pabuk caused aggravation during the country’s high tourist season but less damage than had been feared.

Beaches were closed, but even with the bad weather approaching, tourists on the popular island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand continued to patronize bars and restaurants catering to them.

That was good fortune for the tourism industry, whose safety problems were highlighted last July when 47 Chinese tourists drowned after their boat sank in rough seas near the popular resort of Phuket.

Ahead of this week’s storm, more than 6,100 people in four provinces were evacuated, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

The Thai Meteorological Department said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph at late afternoon, down from 47 mph when it hit land shortly after noon. The department said this was the first tropical storm to make landfall in Thailand in January since accurate records began in 1951.

It continued to warn of strong winds and waves 10 to 16 feet high in the Gulf of Thailand and 6 to 10 feet in the Andaman Sea. It advised all ships to stay ashore through Saturday and warned of possible storm surges on the Gulf coast.

“We can expect heavy rain and downpours, flooding and flash floods in the area throughout the night,” department Director-General Phuwieng Prakhammintara said.

Evacuation efforts were especially intense in Nakhon Si Thammarat province, about 480 miles south of Bangkok, where authorities sent trucks through flooded streets with downed power lines, urging people in danger zones to leave.

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A Thai family eat dinner without electricity in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Pabuk Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, in Pak Phanang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, province southern Thailand. Ferry services and airports have reopened in southern Thailand after a storm moved west into the Andaman Sea. Sumeth Panpetch, AP

Residents drive under a fallen tree in the aftermath of tropical storm Pabuk in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat on Jan. 5, 2019. Floods and blackouts caused by Tropical Storm Pabuk left nearly 30,000 people in evacuation shelters across southern Thailand on January 5, as relieved tourists stranded on islands further north were spared the worst and began to plot routes home. Lillian Suwanrumpha, AFP/Getty Images

Two girls drive through heavy rain due to tropical storm Pabuk in the southern Thai province of Nakhon Si Thammarat on January 4, 2019. Tens of thousands of tourists have fled some of Thailand's most popular islands and resort areas as Tropical Storm Pabuk closes in and threatens to batter the southern part of the kingdom with heavy rains, winds and 22-foot waves. Lillian Suwanrumpha, AFP/Getty Images

Debris is scattered on the road and a house is partially submerged in floodwaters caused by tropical storm Pabuk at a village in Pak Phanang district, Nakhon Si Thammarat province, southern Thailand, Jan. 4, 2019. STRINGER, EPA-EFE